Car-brake-actuating mechanism



H. M. ROBERTSON.

CAR BRAKE ACTUATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22. 1919.

l ,$330,282. Patented Feb. 10, 1920.

a @h1- V U l I "IIIII Lsaosa.v

@Casing to improve the same in the several particu-I -erated retainingdog tor operation para @narran Hanau M. nonnn'rson, or sr@ PAUL,i/iiiinnso'iinr.,` f

oan-nnninncrnafrine MnciaaNisi/r.

To a'vlrllwhom` t may concern: l Y

Be it known that l, HENRY M. ROBERT- soN, a citizen 'of the UnitedStates, residing at St. Paul, the county ofamseyy and State of'Minnesota, have invented certain' new and usetul lmprovements inCar-Brake- Actuating Mechanism; and l do hereby declare the followingto'be: a full, clear, and exact description ot theinventiom'such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethesame.

"li/ly present invention relates to car brake i mechanism, andy has 'forits object lars hereinafter noted", and generally stated,

the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of deviceshereinafter described and defined in the claims. Y

1n car" brake actuating mechanism, as hitherto designed, it has beencustomary practice to provide the brake stati:1 upon which the 'brakechain is wound, with a ratchet wheel and'to provide a manually oponl itsratchet wheel tozhold the brakes set'. ln some of the hitherto usedbrake actuatingmechanisrns, the brake stati has been provided with ahand wheel, and in others, avlever and pawl and ratchet device Ahas beenprovided for rotating the brake stati', but in all instances, so far asli am awaie,to release the said brakes it has beennecessary by manual.op-V eration either with the foot or with the hand,

to release theretaining dog at a time'and while Ythe hands of theoperator arel used on the brake wheel orv lever exerting a torce 9 ,D

thereon sufficient to relieve the retaining dog in the brake ,settingpressure. Otherwise statedytlie 'brake set pressure on the retaining dogprevents the saine from being released, solely either byy the toot orhand, and hence, two operations must be per- `formed at 'once,'to wit,the brake pressure be relieved by the hands and there-` must taining dogby the toot. These two operations are, atleast, very diiiicult toperform in all arrangements of the brake actuating mechanism, and insome arrangements, it

is exceedingly ditiicult and practically inioperations.

possible to simultaneously perform thetwo 'My 4 improved brake actuatingmechanism' body` Specicaton of Letters Eatent. `Tfa,t43n"t@(] Feb,Appiicaiion nieciaugasi ze, 1919. seiai Nq. slain?. y teaturespotimprovements, to wit, first, an; im@ 'croved rorm of .lever and ratchetmecbanl'm cooperative releasing'devices, fwliereloy,'inv

advance of the application of power'toithe set brakes, to release thesame, theretaiui'flg f dog may be so set that it willfalitomaticallyrelease itselt later on,ior in a"sub'sequent -in-Vv Y stant when theratchet mechanism oizthe,

lever is automatically released by a lpredetermined movement of thebrake leven i 'j c An application ot the improvedvbrake actuatingmechanism' to a iiat ,car is illustratedl in theaccompanying drawingsbut will, otk course, be understood that thisfi'mproved brake actuatingmechanism' isV ca# pable `otvarious different applications, bothk to'freight cars andlto passenger cerfs. if.

lIteterring to the said drawings wherein out' the several views,-

`likeV characters indicate like parts tlllugh-` f Figurel is a side'elevation partly in dia-V-v grain with some parts broken away,`sho1w ingthe improved-i brake actuating mech.

anism appliedtoa flat cartl 'Fig 2 is a .front elevationo thebrakeVactuating mechanism,A some parts being broken away;

Fig.' 3 is a horizontal section taken ap? proxiinately'on a lineiii-#Soi Fig@ 1l is a vertical section'm-taken .ap-

proxiinatelyon the line Het Fig; 3,;S0liezg parts being broken away",-and f Fig. 5 is fragmentary section r onthe line:

Of the parts ot the'iiat cai",

6 indicates lthe car body andthe ',numelaljl the wheels, which latterare indicated diafl grammaticallyl adapted toI carry alsoV vindicated bydottedelines. f

by dotted lines. The cark 6 is shownas'A provided with bunks 8; logsr9,- ;whioh 'latter' are@ The brake staff l0is-shown1as applied inzga 'ivertical position to onefend'fof the car body 6', being journal d latitslower end in a yokefl like bracket 11,.w`ithin which bra'c'ketsaid; staff is provided .'with van; t enlarged port-ioii 12 atiording aYwin'dlassdrumto whichiisfatf i ached .and upon- Whicii is adaptednofiie'j'g wo'und a'brake chainl; Above '.the'czrf i' body V6 -the brakestaHsiseXtended' pup-:-

Ward through ,a :bearing .table 1 ioa shown as provided with adepend-ing mar giiial flange and a base plate 16 rigidly secured on topof the car body. The. .inverted hollow casing 17 fitson and Visdetachably secured yto the table 14 and the brake stali1 10, atvitsupper end, Yextends Y through the top of this casing 17 and the topthereof is shown as rovided with a nut 18. Just above the table 14, thebrake staff has a rigidly secured ratchet wheel 19 that is arrangedto beengaged by a retaining dog 2O immediately pivoted to'said-talole at 21and provided with a tail portion projecting Y beyond said pivot. Here itis important to.

note that the outer edge of the retaining dog 2O is convexly curved onboth sides of its pivot.

. vFor, actionI onvthe retaining dog, I provide an actuating springadaptedto Vbe set position to put the said dog under yielding.'

fiange 25. When the said spring is adjusted in one positionto yieldinglyhold the retainving dog for action onthe ratchet teeth of the wheel'19and adapted to be set in lanother strain to move into areleasingposition as 'y soon as the said dog is released from the brakesettingr 'pressure'.v This actuating springfpreferably, and asshown, isa flat` spring bow-22 which, at its intermediate portion, has. aradially projecting inger piece 23 that works in and projects Aoutwardthrough a'segmental slot 24 formed in an .upturned segmental flange 25on the top 'ot the table 14. Atone end, the spring 22 has a bulgedspring end 22a and at its other end a Vsimilar spring bulge 22". Thespring 22 slides circumferentially between the back of the retaining dog20 and the segmental to the left or as shown by full'lines kin Fig. 3,its bulged end 22a engages a convex outer Ledge of the retainingfdog 2Oand yieldingly holds -said retaining dogv for action on the teeth ofratchet wheel 19; but when the said spring22 is movedto its eXtremeposition toward the right orto the position indicated bydottedlines inFig.v 3, then the bulgedl end ,22"Y ofrsaid spring comes into. actionfonthe teeth end ofthe dog 20 and then eX- erts aV force which tends tomove said dog into' an inoperative oi'` releasing position.

YHere, however, should be noted that if the brakes are set and thestrain thereof on theV dogV 20 such that the dog'will not be releasedinstantly upon imovement of the actuatingspring tothe dotted lineposition stated, then the said .dog will'notimmediately be re-.

Yleased but will thereafter be automatically released' the first instantthat the brake setting 'pressure is removed from the saidfre#v '6otaining dog.

' dog for action on the teeth of ratchet wheel a segmental slot 27through which 'the lever i freely works. Y

Brake lever 26 is provided with a drivingk 19; andpreferably, thisretaining dog is in the form of acuived liat spring 28( secured -v atone end of said lever and provided at its `fre-eend with a hook-likeratchet nose `28aV for direct action on the teeth of the ratchet 7bwheel. Under eXtreme movement of the vleyer to a position shown bydotted lines in4 Fig. 3, the beveled nose 28a Vof Ythe driving dog 28will be thrown into engagement with a tripping cam 29 (see particularlyFigs. 3` and 4) which is rigidlyy secured yto the table 14.

Some cinders may get into the casing 17,. and to prevent thesecindersfrom intertering with the ratchetfactions, the table 14 85 isprovided with a plurality ofopenings 30,' which permit the cinders todrop down into n the lower compartment of the casing, and y trom whichlower compartment the cinders may be removed through peripheralopen ings31 in the flange 15. i, l In Fig. 1 the numeral 32 indicates an or#dinary sill step, such as usually provided onv iti-eight cars, and onwhich the brakeinan may stand-while operating the brake niecha` i nism.v

Operation.

The-operation maybe briefly summarized as follows :I

v The'brakeman can use eitliei' one'or both lhands to operate thebrakelever 26, and this is true whether the lever is used to set` thel brakesor to release the brakes, for the reef,v

son that neither fhand is required orany other operation at a time whenthebrake .lever is being operated.v The brakes are,l ojl course, set byoscillatingthe lever.

Vihen the brakes are to be set-the dog actuating spring 22 Vis placed inpositionlio stati against unwinding ymovement even while the driving.deg is released `from the ratchet wheel. 1

After the brakes have been set andwheii it is desired to release thesame, the operator 1 y first shifts the actuating spring to the Y idotted line position Fig. 3, butthis, as be-. fore stated, will` notcause the brakesto beV immediately released. Then the operator, by theuse of the lever 26, rotates the brake stad 'slightly inthe direction toset .the brakes, so'as toi-elieve the retaining dogV from the brakesetting pi'essure,aiid thereupon, the springf22, set as stated, willin-v Lesbiana stantly tlii'oiv the retaining dog into its in-v operativeor releasingposition. Then' the' operator permits the lever, `with itsdriving dog engaged by the ratchet ivheel, under the' pressure oit thesaid. brakes, to' lin ve to the dotted line position, Fig. 3, and i"v'f'hich position the ratchet ncse28' of the do@ 28 will be engagedWith the trii' ino' cam 29 and C P f3 automatically7 forced out orengagement with the teeth of the ratchet Wheel, thereby coin-v pletingthe release of the brakes. Obviously, While the brake stati and ratchetWheel are being rotated by the released brakes, the

retaining dog 20* will beheld out ot engagement with the teeth ot theratchet Wheel by its spring 22, and at the same time, the nose of thedriving dog 28 Will be held out of engagement with the teeth of saidratchetl Wheel by the tripping cam 29. Y

lt is further important to note in the above described arrangement ofythe brake actuating mechanism, the brake stati' requires but one ratchetWheel, ior the reason that both the retaining dogand the leveractuateddriving dog operate on the saine ratchet Wheel. In prior arrangements ithas been customary to provide the brake staff With tivo ratchet Wheels,one located loiv down for cooperation With the retaining dog and theother higher up for cooperation With the driving dog of the brake lever.The above arrangement not only is economical, but affords a compactarrangement which is applicable in many places Where the tivo ratchetWheel arrangement would not be practicable or possible. Nevertheless, soiar l as the broad feature ot the releasing device with the retainingdog is concerned, the invention is not limited to the number of ratchetWheels employed on the brake stai?.

What I claim is l. ln a brake mechanism, the combination. with abrakestaii, of a retaining device and an operating device therefor, and areleasing device adapted to be adjusted in advance and While the brakesare set and therebyput under tension, toY subsequently release saidlwheel, of an oscillatory dog-equipped lever operative to rotate saidstaff, a retaining' dog coperating with said ratchet Wheel, and a.shitable actuating spring operative :on said retaining dogdsaidactuatingspring cope-` erating With sai-d retaining dog'and opera-` tivethereoi'ijinioiiepositionto-render the saine operative onl said ratchetWheel,l but operative 'in another position tol set Ysaid 're-V tainiiiigdog iin-der strain to move rinto a ree'asing or inoperative position. l

` 4. ln a brake mechangism,`the combination with a brake staff equippedwith a ratchet Wheel, ot an Voscillatory lever provided With. a drivingdog operative on said ratchetv Wheel, a dog tripping device operative torelease said dog in one position of said lever, a retaining dogcooperating With said ratchet Wheel, and a dog` actuating spring'lshiftable from one position to another and operative in one position torender said retainingdog operative onsaid ratchet Wheel.

and operative in another position to put said retaining` dogunder'yielding strain to enter al releasing or inoperative position. n

5. In a 'brake mechanism, the combination vvith a brake stai equippedwith a ratchet Wheel, of a lever pivoted on said stati3 and providedwith a driving dog operative on said ratchet Wheel, a fixed tripping camoperative to release said driving` dog from said ratchet.' Wheel in oneeXtreme position ot' said lever, an interinediately pivoted retainingdog coperating With said ratchetV Wheel, and provided vvvith a curvedouteredge on 'both sides of its pivot, a cylindrical supporting flangeadjacent to the outer edge Y of said retaining dog, and an actuatingspring slidably mounted on said flange and provided With spring ends foraction on the opposite end portions of said retaining dog, saidactuatingspring, When set in one position, serving to render said retainingy dogoperative on said ratchet Wheel and in another position to put. saiddogf under yielding strain to move into a releasing or inoperativeposition.

,6. ln a brake-actuating mechanism, the" combination with a brake stafflequipped with a ratchet Wheel, of a lever pivoted on said brake stan andprovided Withy a driving dog in `the .form of a spring arm se! cured tosaidlever at oneend, and provided at its free end With a beveled noseopera-- tive on the teeth. of said ratchet Wheel, a lixed tripping camrWith which the nose or said driving dog is engaged and byv which it isreleased* in'one `extreme positioirot J said lever, and a retaining dogoperative on said ratchet Wheel. i 1

` 7. In abrake actuating mechanism, the` combination with a brake staffequipped with a ratchet Wheel, of a retainingV dog op r erative on saidratchet Wheel, an oscillatinglever equipped with a drivingdog operativeon said ratchet Wheel, means for releasing said driving 'dog in oneeXtreme po sition of said lever, and means adapted to he set .inadvance' to release said retaining 13o dog When 4the latter is relievedfrom set lease Said retaining devices when the latter f brake pressure.d is relievedfrom set brake pressure. 10 8. In e brake mechanism, thecombination "In testimony whereof I afx my signature with ahrake-settingelement anda retain- 1n presence O two Witnesses. Y ing device and anoperating device there- HENRY M. ROBERTSON.

for, of a releasing device Vstdtptedto he set Witnesses: y A in advanceand While the brakes are set and l 'A CLARA DEMAREST, y thereby put;under stranto subsequently re- HARRY D. KILGORE.

